What Is The Deal With Asiana Air?

[sirineou]

A couple of weeks ago we purchased a ticket in economy class, for my wife, (JFK to Bkk) at $1,100, a few days later I found out that I could have some time off from work and decided to join her, but now the price for the same dates is $ 2,500. Other airlines have maintained the same 1,100-1,200 price range.

Any one knows why the big change in price for Asiana?

[craigt3365]

Clear the cookies in your browser...and try at times other than the weekend. Actually, try every hour or so! Prices change on a minute by minute basis. But, if that flight is close to being sold out, the price will rise dramatically. I've been in your situation in the past and ended up having to book on another airline and meet wifey at the airport! No fun, but saves money....

[gopbi]

Clear the cookies in your browser...and try at times other than the weekend. Actually, try every hour or so! Prices change on a minute by minute basis. But, if that flight is close to being sold out, the price will rise dramatically. I've been in your situation in the past and ended up having to book on another airline and meet wifey at the airport! No fun, but saves money....

It's also very possible that the specific fare class your wife was booked in-- like T, V, W etc., are now all sold out and only higher fare classes like B, M or H remain... Inventory changes minute to minute as people book and cancel.. Plus the airlines Revenue and Inventory management arm will be constantly monitoring (either by live human or pre-programmed computer systems) how the flight is selling and can/will shift seats from one fare class to another to insure that as many of the seats sell as possible, and for the highest prices possible.

[sirineou]

Hi craigt3365 and gopbi Thank you both for taking the time to reply to my question.

Both your answers, made very good sense.

We also considered flying in separate airlines, like you said no fan. I will delete my cookies and try for a few more days, then I will call Asiana and see if I could reach some sort of compromise, if not maybe I can get credit for her airfare and use it some other time, and purchase airfare at a different airline for the both of us.

Thank you

[steelepulse]

Probably one of the legs were now sold out in economy, so now the next option is for biz. This happened to me around 3 weeks ago when the leg from Incheon was sold out in economy and only biz was available.

[F4UCorsair]

This is what some airlines call 'flexi fare'. The fare varies with demand. When bookings open for a particular flight months before the actual date, the fare is low to stimulate demand. That's not always true, so it varies with the routes, historical demands and a heap of other factors. As the flight fills, the fare rises, but if demand falls, so does the fare. It's a finely balanced equation, based on a historical load factor for the particular route, and the minimum revenue the airline can accept to operate over that route.

The advice to check at times of lower consumer demand is good, however there will be demand from somewhere in the world at any time. The more often you can check the greater chance you have of securing a deal. I was recently looking at fares for regional Australia, and one day the fare was A$160 for Brisbane to Barcaldine, a day later it was $280!! Big difference, and when I looked yesterday it was $320 with a flashing note that there were less than 5 seats available. That tells the story, but tomorrow it may be back to ??? depending on demand.

The golden rule is that once you've bought a ticket, don't look back. It's not unlike buying a T shirt (or anything) on Sukhumvit or Khao San Road, and then asking the next vendor to find that you could have picked it up B50 cheaper!! It's not so much the numbers, but the fact that you missed a deal that pi$$es you off!!